1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,760 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,560 Second Samuel and chapter #2 is where we will be in the Word of 8 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:31,680 God this evening. And I'm thankful that we have a 9 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:34,080 word we can trust. We talked about that this 10 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,040 morning. I'm thankful that in a world 11 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:38,920 where nothing seems to make sense, it's the Word of God that 12 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,360 is truth and that is our anchor. And we're going to look to that 13 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,920 very word this evening to help us to deal with the issue of 14 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:48,280 patience. And the title of the message is 15 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:50,920 patience for when the goal posts move. 16 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,200 Patience for when. The goal posts move. 17 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:56,880 You know, to me one of the more interesting proverbs that you 18 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,880 will find in, well, the book of Proverbs would be Proverbs 19 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:05,360 chapter 13, verse 12, which says this hope deferred maketh the 20 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:10,360 heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. 21 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:12,200 Now that verse basically means this. 22 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:16,200 When you are waiting for something and it's delayed, it 23 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:18,640 hurts. It causes some emotional 24 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,560 distress that causes some emotional pain and we can 25 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,040 understand that because there are many times in life where we 26 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,760 think something is going to be a certain way or something is 27 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,960 going to happen at a certain time period, but yet it is 28 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:35,760 delayed out of no fault of our own and sometimes maybe doesn't 29 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:40,000 even take place at all. A man waiting for a long promise 30 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,520 promotion ends up feeling defeated when the position is 31 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,520 given to someone else. A child waiting for their 32 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,320 birthday finds out that they're not going to be able to have the 33 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,640 party that they wanted to have on the day of their birthday. 34 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,720 And I think that's pretty much been all of our children every 35 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,560 year for the last several years. But the idea is 8. 36 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:01,760 Your birthday's, we're going to give you a little bit of cake 37 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:03,320 today. But you know, that stuff that 38 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:05,400 we're going to do, we're going to have to do it at a later 39 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:06,440 date. Hope deferred. 40 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:11,120 Make it the heart sick, a patient praying for healing, or 41 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:15,000 a patient waiting for a procedure to take place that's 42 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,880 told it's not coming. At the time play, at the time 43 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,600 frame that you thought it would be coming, that can cause a 44 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:25,400 great amount of distress. A family saving for a home 45 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:27,600 thinks they have enough, but then the market changes and all 46 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,720 of a sudden what they thought they had wasn't enough. 47 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:32,800 A missionary, we've seen this before, haven't we? 48 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:34,920 Where missionaries thought they were going out to the mission 49 00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:38,480 field and then something like a, you know, a COVID happened and 50 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,760 all of a sudden a country that was open to the gospel is now 51 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:43,640 closed. They're not giving visas any 52 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:45,640 more to missionaries. And we've had our own 53 00:02:45,640 --> 00:02:48,720 missionaries like the Mallards that we support here who thought 54 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,640 they were going to Australia and now are in Poplar Bluff, MO. 55 00:02:52,640 --> 00:02:54,960 And I don't know about you, but I can't think of two places that 56 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,280 are much different than Australia and Poplar Bluff, MO 57 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:02,440 Amen. But things change in life, don't 58 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:04,080 they? We think it's going to be one 59 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:05,960 thing and it ends up being something else. 60 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,440 And one of the ways that we commonly put that is someone is 61 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,520 moving the goal posts or life as move the goal posts. 62 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:14,240 And the thought process of that is this. 63 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,720 If you're playing football, you know where the end zone is, you 64 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,200 know where the goal posts are if you have an idea of how far you 65 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,320 need to go because that distance is fixed, isn't it? 66 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:27,040 It's 100 yard field, It's a 10 yard end zone. 67 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,080 And then there is a goal post to follow unless you're playing 68 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,280 Canadian rules football and for some reason they thought about 69 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:33,960 putting the goal posts right in the middle of the end zone. 70 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:36,040 That doesn't seem very smart to me all things considered. 71 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,560 But could you imagine thinking I've got 100 yards to go, I've 72 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:41,680 got to go from end zone to end zone to score. 73 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,080 And then you get about 90 yards and they said, oh, by the way, 74 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:45,800 we've extended the field, it's another 20. 75 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:49,240 And then you go that 20 and say, oh, by the way, can't score yet. 76 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:51,840 You got to go another 30. That's called moving the goal 77 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:53,280 posts. You think you're going to get 78 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:55,480 where you're supposed to go and all of a sudden it's a little 79 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:56,840 bit further. It's a little. 80 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:00,400 Bit more out. Of reach so let me ask you this 81 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,360 question and I think I know the answer but let me ask it anyway 82 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:05,760 because I you know this is kind of what preaching is I'm going 83 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,480 to ask the question make you think about it for a second how 84 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:13,640 do you respond when the goal posts move in life now if you 85 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:17,279 raise your hand that's what I thought OK that's nobody all 86 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:21,560 right we don't do well with it do we when we think something is 87 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:25,720 going to happen at a time in which it's supposed to happen we 88 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:30,000 are OK with that but then when the time frame is switched. 89 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,560 It kind of causes some problems. Doesn't I remember mentioning 90 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,560 that surgery this morning that I had four years ago? 91 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,080 I remember when I was given a surgical date in early April and 92 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,600 I was told that the surgeries have was about 3 weeks away. 93 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:45,920 And I'll be honest with you, I was happy about that because I 94 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:47,840 just wanted to get the procedure done. 95 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,040 So I started calling the preachers that were going to 96 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,120 fill in for me. I said I got the date now will 97 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,360 you do this week and will you do this week and you take care of 98 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:56,120 this week. Had to fill up two months, as 99 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:58,760 you remember, of pulpit supply because I was going to be out. 100 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:01,480 And then about a day later that same office called me and said, 101 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:03,240 hey, by the way, remember that date we gave you? 102 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:05,160 We're going to have to move it by about a month and a half. 103 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,320 And I just wanted to reach through that phone. 104 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,640 And anyway, we'll stop right there. 105 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:15,200 But anyway, it, it wasn't kind because I thought I, I, I just 106 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:17,680 took care of all the stuff and now I've got to do it. 107 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:21,360 Now I've got to think about this for an extra month and 1/2 on 108 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:22,600 top of everything else that's going. 109 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:27,640 Listen, most of us don't react well when life doesn't go the 110 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,120 way we want it to go. Now here's David. 111 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:33,280 Do you think? David's life has gone the way 112 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,000 that he expected it to go when he was sitting in the pasture. 113 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:39,800 The answer is no. Do you think he was ever sitting 114 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,640 in the pasture with visions of grandeur of someday becoming the 115 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,280 king of Israel? No, but yet God met him there 116 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:50,360 and he was anointed king. But yet from that point on, did 117 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:53,520 anything that followed after that go according to plan? 118 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:58,840 Well, the answer is still no, because it wasn't an easy road 119 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,920 to the throne, was it? No, it was. 120 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,760 Saul all of a sudden has this jealousy issue with him, and 121 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,880 then Saul wants to kill him. And then he's on the run for 122 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,160 about 15 years and he's not sure when he's ever going to be able 123 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,000 to ascend to the throne. And now he's found out that Saul 124 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,800 and his best friend are dead. And so because of that, listen, 125 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:21,720 we know that he had sorrow. Remember, why waste your tears 126 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:24,080 on soul? We saw that a few weeks ago and 127 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:27,840 we talked about David truly lamenting the loss of Saul, even 128 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:29,680 though Saul had done great harm to him. 129 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:34,680 Because there was something that was was was taken care of inside 130 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:38,080 of David's heart and life that was able to help him to look at 131 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:39,520 this with the proper perspective. 132 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:42,480 Again, not with rose colored glasses, but looking at the full 133 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:45,160 perspective as God had led him through his life. 134 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:47,400 And so all this has happened, but through it all, guess what? 135 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:49,760 David's going to finally ascend the throne. 136 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:53,080 It's been about 15 years, give or take, but he's finally going 137 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:55,320 to make it to the throne. What could go wrong? 138 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:01,440 Well, it just so happens that David's ascent to the throne 139 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:04,040 isn't what anyone thought it would be. 140 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,560 And in fact, it's like something that came out of a movie script 141 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:13,680 or a made for TV script where a character that no one's ever 142 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:19,520 heard of just all of a sudden appears a distant relation to 143 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:22,960 Saul. Well, not distant by blood, but 144 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,120 distant in the sense that we've never heard of him, we've never 145 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:30,120 seen him before, and all of a sudden he's elevated to the 146 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,200 throne that David's supposed to be on. 147 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,680 So what do you do when hope deferred makes the heart sick? 148 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:39,960 What do you do when you expect one thing and life hand you 149 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,720 something else? David responded with patience. 150 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:46,920 Now, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to be honest with you 151 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,160 from our perspective, but I think David can teach us some 152 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:53,400 lessons this evening to help us to learn and when life doesn't 153 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:57,240 go the way we want it to go. And let's be honest, I'm 42 154 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,080 years old. If you'd asked me years ago 155 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:02,400 would I be where I am at 42, I had no idea. 156 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,280 I would not have said 20. Yeah, I'll have a major surgery. 157 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:06,680 We'll have these children. We'll do all this. 158 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,280 I'm not even saying good or bad. I'm just saying just nobody 159 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:10,720 knows, right? Because the future is the 160 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:13,360 future. But how do we? 161 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:17,360 When life doesn't go the way we expect it or wanted it to go, 162 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:19,760 David gives us the key. Will you stand please for the 163 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:23,160 reading of God's Word? Second Samuel chapter #2 The 164 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:30,760 universe #1 where it says. And it came to pass after this, 165 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,400 that David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up into any 166 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,120 of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said on him, Go up. 167 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:39,720 And David said, Whither shall I go up? 168 00:08:40,039 --> 00:08:44,000 And he said unto Hebron. So David went up thinner, and 169 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:47,760 his two wives also a hit of him, the Jezreelitis, and Abigail 170 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:51,360 Nabel's wife, the Carmelite, and his men that were with him, did 171 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:53,960 David bring up every man with his household. 172 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:55,800 And they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. 173 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,680 So they moved from Ziklag to Hebron, and the men of Judah 174 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:03,000 came, and there they anointed David king over the House of 175 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:04,440 Judah. That's good, isn't it? 176 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:06,720 He's become king. But the House of Judah isn't all 177 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,560 of Israel, is it? It's just one tribe of the 178 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:13,080 greater 12 tribes which comprise the nation of Israel. 179 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:16,040 And they told David, saying that the men of Jabish Gilead were 180 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:19,320 they that buried Saul. And David sent messengers unto 181 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:22,400 the men of Jabish Gilead, and said unto them, Blessed be ye of 182 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,240 the Lord, that ye have showed this kindness unto your Lord, 183 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:26,800 even unto Saul, and have buried him. 184 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:30,280 And now the Lord show kindness and truth unto you, and I will 185 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:33,840 require you, or rather requite you this kindness, because you 186 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:36,400 have done this thing. Therefore now let your hands be 187 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:40,040 strengthened and be valiant, for your master Saul is dead. 188 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,440 And also the House of Judah have anointed me king over them. 189 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:45,120 Now we'll not cover that here this evening, because you 190 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:49,160 remember we saw at the end of First Samuel chapter 31 those 191 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:54,560 wimping men of Jabish Gilead who turned into valiant men, and how 192 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:58,480 David gives them a commendation here for retrieving the body of 193 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:02,800 Saul and the bodies of his sons after they were abused after 194 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:06,520 death by the Philistines. But go to verse #8 everything's 195 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:07,960 good here. But what's the next word? 196 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:12,920 But so everything's not quite what we expect it to be, is it? 197 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:18,080 But Abner, the son of Nur, captain of Saul's host, took 198 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:22,720 Ishma Shaf, the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanam and 199 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:27,720 made him king over Gilead and over the asteroids, over 200 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:33,200 Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel. 201 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:37,040 Judah's soul son was 40 years old when he began to reign over 202 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:38,720 Israel. It reigned 2 years. 203 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:40,960 But the House of Judah followed David. 204 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:43,600 And the time that Dave was King Hebrew over the House of Judah 205 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,840 was six or seven years and six months. 206 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:50,520 Why don't you be seated? Hey, David, you're going to be 207 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:52,560 the king of Israel. Surprise. 208 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,960 Here's this for Seth. He'll take 11 tribes and you can 209 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:58,920 have one. How this happened? 210 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:01,960 Why did this happen and how did David respond? 211 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:04,280 That's what we'll look at here in just a moment. 212 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:07,480 Heavenly Father, we do thank you for this evening. 213 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:09,560 And again, we just ask that you be with the word as it's given. 214 00:11:09,560 --> 00:11:11,880 Help me to be able to be clear and my thoughts. 215 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,120 Help me to be able to portray the word of God accurately down 216 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:17,080 to the finest detail. Lord, it's your word. 217 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:20,760 It deserves to be given in a way that is appropriate and it's 218 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:22,880 helpful. I pray that we do just that this 219 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:25,360 evening and help us all to have our hearts open when it comes 220 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:28,440 this issue that have been patience when life doesn't go 221 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:32,080 the way we expect it to go and we do humbly ask it in Jesus 222 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:35,800 name Amen. Well, finally the opportunity 223 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:39,640 has come for David to ascend to the throne and what I love about 224 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:42,520 the beginning of this chapter. It says in chapter 2 verse one 225 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:46,200 came to pass after this that David inquired of the Lord. 226 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,680 This is a good thing isn't it? You'll remember that David had 227 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:52,040 been away from the Lord for some period of time, but then after 228 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:55,840 the issue of Ziklag and after his own men talked about killing 229 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:57,440 him. Remember, David encouraged 230 00:11:57,440 --> 00:11:59,800 himself in the Lord. That doesn't again mean that he 231 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:01,840 just needed and some encouragement, but that he 232 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:04,840 literally gathered courage from his relationship with God. 233 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,480 And then what did he do? He inquired of the Lord. 234 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:11,840 That's in first Samuel chapter 30 verse #8 but we see that same 235 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,840 language here where David is inquiring of the Lord. 236 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:16,800 Lord, what would you have me to do? 237 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:19,200 By the way, what are we to do with our lives? 238 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:20,960 Lord, what would you have me to do? 239 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,200 My life is not my own. My direction is not my own. 240 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,640 I have been bought with price. And so I'm going to glorify God 241 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:31,720 in my body and in my spirit, which are gods. 242 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:33,360 This is what we're told in the New Testament. 243 00:12:33,560 --> 00:12:36,480 And so here we see that David says, Lord, what would you have 244 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,240 me to do? And so the Lord says, he goes to 245 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,920 the city of Judah, and he says, where shall I go up? 246 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:45,240 And he says unto Hebron. And then David went with his 247 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,680 family, all of the other people that he had collected, those 248 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:52,920 mighty men, his own mercenary band that he had assembled over 249 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:56,640 these last several years. Now, Hebron is a very historical 250 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,920 place in the Life and Times of the people of Israel. 251 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:02,360 You've heard the nerd name Hebron before. 252 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:04,640 You're not exactly sure where you've heard it. 253 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:09,000 It's all over the Old Testament, particularly from texts before 254 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,320 where we are in Second Samuel chapter #2 it was the place 255 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:16,560 where Abraham built one of his altars as he was journeying to 256 00:13:16,560 --> 00:13:19,040 the Promised land, to the land of Canaan. 257 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:24,040 Later on, it was the area where both Sarah and Abraham would be 258 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:30,160 buried, as well as Isaac and Rebecca and Jacob and Leah all 259 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,360 all of them will be buried in The Cave of Machpelah that was 260 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:37,320 there in the city of Hebron. It was later on the book of 261 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:39,280 Joshua. You remember Caleb, remember 262 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:42,080 Caleb was one of the two good spies, the two that trusted the 263 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,000 Lord when there were ten others who did not trust God. 264 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:49,560 Well, Caleb said in his old age, he said, give me that mountain. 265 00:13:49,560 --> 00:13:52,880 He knew that there was a mountain that could be overcome 266 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:56,640 and could be one for the Lord as long as there was someone who's 267 00:13:56,640 --> 00:13:59,320 willing to trust God. And Caleb says, listen, I've 268 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:01,440 trusted God all my my life. I'm not going to stop now just 269 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:04,720 because I'm 85 years old. Give me that mountain. 270 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:06,680 And you know what? That mountain was Hebron. 271 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,320 And then we get to his finding that Hebron is also a city of 272 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,720 refuge. It was a place where fugitives 273 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,600 could go to ensure that they had a fair trial. 274 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:18,720 Hebron was a very historical place. 275 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:21,640 But here's one of the most important parts of this issue. 276 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:25,440 It lay within the boundaries of the tribe of Judah. 277 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,680 Now which tribe is David from? He is from the tribe of Judah. 278 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:33,120 So David is basically going back to, can we put it this way, his 279 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,160 ancestral homeland. And he is going to go to this 280 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,680 very historical place. And we find that when he comes 281 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:43,240 there, his brethren are there. The people of Judah are all 282 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:45,160 there. And in verse #4 it says. 283 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:47,440 And there they anointed David. King. 284 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:51,360 Over the House of Judah. So David technically is not 285 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:53,800 anointed the king over all of Israel. 286 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:56,760 He's just been anointed king over for his own tribe. 287 00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:59,240 Now that's an important distinction to make you you 288 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:01,800 think that he would just become the king over all of Israel. 289 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:05,840 But remember, there's still some disjointedness and there's still 290 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:11,360 some old tribal bad feelings that go all the way back to the 291 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:15,040 book of Judges. And you'll find that Judah is 292 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:17,240 often at odds with the other tribes. 293 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,160 And certainly that will be the case as I mentioned this morning 294 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:24,280 with in Sunday school with Rehoboam and Jeroboam when the 295 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:26,680 Kingdom split again and Judah was on its own. 296 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:30,400 And then the other tribes, the other 10 tribes at least were to 297 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:32,640 the north. And you kind of see some of that 298 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:36,680 here in our text that David is the king of Judah, but he has 299 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:38,800 not become the king of all of Israel yet. 300 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:42,880 Now one of the reasons for that is this in verse #8 there was a 301 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:47,240 man named Abner, the son of Nur, captain of souls host. 302 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:51,360 Now who is this guy? Well, we could find out by going 303 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:57,440 to going to a companion passage that he is the uncle of Saul. 304 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,080 So this is a relative. He's not just a captain of his 305 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:04,240 guard, but we find back in First Samuel he's also an uncle of 306 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:07,800 Saul as well. And Abner just can't give up the 307 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:11,320 fact that his. Family is no longer going to be 308 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:14,360 royalty. He believes that his family 309 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:17,880 should have some sort of royal influence. 310 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:21,760 And so he decides, well, look, David may be the king of Judah, 311 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:23,120 but he has to be the king of all of Israel. 312 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:28,400 Listen, you other tribes, are we going to follow whatever Judah 313 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:30,520 does? Are we going to allow Judah to 314 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:33,520 dictate our future? And kind of stirs up some of the 315 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:37,000 old animosities that were between some of the tribes. 316 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:41,160 And before you know it, Abner digs up this guy named 317 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:45,320 Ishbosheth and decides to make him the king of all the other 318 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:47,240 tribes. They just kind of follow along 319 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:51,360 with it, to be honest with you. Now, if you would say Pastor 320 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:54,520 Ishbashaf, I don't think I remember him. 321 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:56,720 When did we talk about Ishbashaf before? 322 00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:59,320 I would be able to tell you we've not talked about him 323 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,240 before because up to this point, we've never seen this guy. 324 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:07,280 Now, the last time we saw Saul's family, we saw him at the end of 325 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:12,480 First Samuel chapter #31 and we saw Saul and Jonathan and two 326 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:16,079 other sons died. There was no mention of 327 00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:18,960 Ishbashaf. So the question is, where'd this 328 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,760 guy come from? Why do we just find him here 329 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,119 right now? Again, he had three sons who 330 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:28,040 died with him in battle. We saw that in First Samuel 31 331 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:30,040 verse 6. There's no previous mention of 332 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:32,400 Ishbosheth among the sons of Saul. 333 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:35,880 So just from some reading that I have done, there are many who 334 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:39,840 believe that he was either an illegitimate son of Saul or the 335 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,520 son of a concubine. But he was not one of the, could 336 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:48,480 we put it this way, one of his chosen sons that would have 337 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:50,720 necessarily been next to the throne. 338 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:53,880 But there's some issues with this guy, Ish Bashat. 339 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:59,320 He's got some character flaws. The first would be this. 340 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,840 Why isn't he dead? Hey, pastor, that's a very 341 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:05,000 strange. Question to ask like. 342 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:06,000 Why isn't he dead? No, no. 343 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:10,640 Saul and his boys were out there in the field together. 344 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:15,080 Saul and his sons were out there in battle, shoulder to shoulder. 345 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,520 Listen, they were going to live together and they were going to 346 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:21,000 die together. So I've got a question for you. 347 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,200 Where's this guy? Why isn't he dead? 348 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:29,440 Why wasn't he with the family? I think perhaps the answer would 349 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:33,560 be that he wasn't on the field of battle that day, and maybe 350 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,720 there's some issues with whether he was actually a valiant man or 351 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:38,880 not. Now, I'm not just pulling this 352 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,640 out of thin air. We'll find out when we go to the 353 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:46,360 next chapter that he was not a very good man and he was not a 354 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:50,320 very strong man. In fact, I believe Abner chose 355 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:52,960 him for one reason and one reason only. 356 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:55,160 He needed a puppet. He. 357 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:57,280 Had somebody that he could pull the strings on a little bit. 358 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:01,520 Abner was an older man again, the uncle of Saul, and he was 359 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:04,960 looking for a young buck who just was looking for an 360 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:07,200 opportunity. Hey, you got a little bit of 361 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,760 royal blood in your son. Hey, Saul never really gave you 362 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,560 a whole lot of heat, did you? He never gave you a whole lot of 363 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:17,160 attention, did he? Well, he's dead, but you still 364 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:19,760 do have some royal blood in you. I'll tell you what. 365 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:24,320 You stick with me, you follow me, and I'll make sure you're 366 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:26,160 the king of all the other tribes. 367 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:29,840 And after time goes on, we'll get Judah on board, too. 368 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:32,280 And Ishbasheth. Being a man of. 369 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,640 No character I believe just went along with that fact. 370 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:41,280 And here's the problem. David finally had his moment. 371 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:45,120 Saul is dead. Wouldn't David naturally think, 372 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:47,440 now I will become the king of Israel? 373 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:50,040 Why wouldn't he think that? That was what he was promised 374 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:54,680 all those years ago when he was out there in the sheep pasture 375 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:58,560 and was called in to meet with his father and his brothers and 376 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:01,800 with Samuel, and when nobody. Thought he was worth much of 377 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:04,240 anything. God didn't look on the outward 378 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:06,320 appearance. He looked on the heart, didn't 379 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:08,320 he? And ever from that moment, 380 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,960 listen, David wasn't looking for this, but it was thrust upon him 381 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:15,600 by the very will of God. And so he devoted his life to 382 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:19,800 following that which God. Had placed upon his heart and 383 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:25,200 here's his time here's his chance this is it and he's 384 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:31,560 denied again. He's king of a tribe, and now 385 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:36,400 he's got not just this other king, but almost a splinter 386 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:42,680 Kingdom and the inevitability of civil war hanging right over the 387 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:46,760 top of them. So how did David respond when 388 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:49,920 the goal posts move? How did David respond when, once 389 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:53,560 again, he was denied that which he was expecting to receive 390 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:56,080 within his own life? And my answer would be this. 391 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:58,960 He seemingly responds with patience. 392 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:01,920 Now, I'll be honest. With you for you to read second 393 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,960 Samuel chapter #2 and even second Samuel chapter #3 You'll 394 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:09,320 never find the word patience in those chapters, but I don't 395 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,680 believe I'm reading this into. What we see here in the 396 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:15,760 scriptures, it's the only. Way that you could possibly 397 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:18,440 explain the posture in which he takes. 398 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:22,000 Listen, Abner is going to continue to poke the bear 399 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,760 through the rest of the chapter. Abner is going to continue to 400 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:28,320 stir the pot through the rest of the chapter. 401 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,640 And we know this about David. He is a valiant man. 402 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:35,600 We know this about his men. They are strong men. 403 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:39,120 And we know this about the men of Judah, that they are more 404 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:45,040 numerable than any of the other tribes as far as being able to 405 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:49,720 amass together an army. David very quickly and very 406 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:54,240 easily could have dispatched Ishbosheth and then assumed the 407 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:57,160 Kingdom by. Force, and maybe even feel 408 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,360 righteous in doing so. After all, hey, this is what God 409 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:01,520 told me. Who are you? 410 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,400 To be able to take this, I will take it from you by force, 411 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:07,720 because after all, it belonged to me. 412 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:10,880 And I'm not saying. David was passive here. 413 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,360 I'm not saying that that the issue of Christianity is just, 414 00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:15,880 hey, be passive, don't ever do anything and you know, the 415 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:17,240 Christian life will just flow to you. 416 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:18,760 That that's not my message this evening. 417 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:20,600 I don't believe we see that anywhere in Scripture. 418 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:27,440 But I will say this, that David was very restrained from what he 419 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:30,200 could have done under the circumstances. 420 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,360 Throughout Chapter 2, there's these events that take place and 421 00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:37,840 Abner continues to try to provoke David, and it's not 422 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:42,280 David trying to provoke Abner. Now David will respond in force, 423 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:47,240 and David will always get the upper hand, but yet David does 424 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:50,560 not annihilate them, remember? These are his brethren. 425 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:54,400 These are his brothers of the people of Israel. 426 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,480 He wants to be careful if he's ever going to be their. 427 00:22:57,480 --> 00:22:59,720 King. He knows he has to have the 428 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,600 right posture, and he knows he has to have the right heart. 429 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,080 It's hard to rule people in a Kingdom when they're all dead 430 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,240 and he can't just kill them off. So what does he do? 431 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:16,400 Patience. If I go to chapter 3 verse 9 as 432 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,040 you do so, I'm going to switch this over here. 433 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:28,120 It'll be like one of those modern churches this evening. 434 00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:30,880 I had my ripped jeans before I got here, but I decided not to 435 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:33,760 wear those this evening. But it's it's mighty warm up 436 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:35,880 here, so I hope you'll understand. 437 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:39,160 Look at chapter 3 verse one. It says this. 438 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,040 Now there was long war between the House of Saul and the House 439 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:45,000 of David. Now how long was that war we 440 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:46,120 just saw in the previous chapter? 441 00:23:46,120 --> 00:23:48,520 2 years. It's a long war between the 442 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:49,800 House of Saul and the House of David. 443 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:54,360 But David waxed stronger and stronger, and the House of Saul 444 00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:58,440 waxed weaker and weaker. So what is David doing? 445 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,200 He's playing the long game. What is David doing? 446 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:05,320 He is waiting patiently. Even though life did not deliver 447 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:09,200 him what he expected it to deliver him, he decides it's 448 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:12,680 still appropriate and it's good for me to wait so we can 449 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:14,600 establish that. David, when he could have been 450 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,680 upset, when he could have set Judah against the other tribes 451 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:22,680 or started an all out civil war, he restrained himself with 452 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:23,560 patience. You. 453 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:27,360 Know what I think it's interesting that we come back to 454 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:29,840 this issue of patients this evening. 455 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:34,040 You may remember that I preached a message on patients back 456 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,480 before Thanksgiving on a Sunday morning. 457 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:38,960 The reason why, what is one of the things we were to add to our 458 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,880 faith patients. And I remember at the time doing 459 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,720 a little bit of research and I have all of my messages, all the 460 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,520 files online, I have them stored there. 461 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:55,200 And the best I could tell, out of about 13150 messages that I 462 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:57,480 preached here at Liberty Baptist Church and I just get tired just 463 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:00,880 thinking about that 13150 messages that I put together. 464 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:04,120 I'd only preach one whole message on patients. 465 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:08,120 So you have to forgive me that now I'm up to around 1400 plus 466 00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:10,800 and now this is 2 messages on patients. 467 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,600 I would say one out of every 700 messages is probably not 468 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:16,440 overdoing it on the issue of patients. 469 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,240 Is it because it's something that we all struggle with? 470 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,880 It's something that we all have difficulty with. 471 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:24,880 So how did he show this kind of patience? 472 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:28,320 Maybe we could put it this way. How did he manifest patience in 473 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,360 what we see here in this text? I think there's several reasons 474 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:34,360 or several things that he did. First of all, how did he do 475 00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:36,400 this? I believe it was because he knew 476 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,920 what he was promised. He knew what he was promised. 477 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:41,480 Did God promised him the throne of Judah? 478 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:43,840 He did. But he promised him the throne 479 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:46,280 of the other 11 tribes as well. He did. 480 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,800 David was firm in that which God had promised him. 481 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:54,680 David knew the Kingdom belonged to him and not to Ishbashaf. 482 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:57,000 In fact, what's interesting is about it. 483 00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:58,800 You know who else knew that? Jonathan. 484 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,680 Remember Jonathan said who would have been the next heir to the 485 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:04,920 throne? He said this, Hey David, someday 486 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,200 you're going to be king and I'll be at your side helping you. 487 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:10,240 Jonathan was able to accept God's will. 488 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,800 Do you know who else knew the next king of Israel will be 489 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:16,360 David Saul? There were several times when 490 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:20,640 Saul said David, I got to admit, even within the quietness of my 491 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,320 own heart, if I'm really thinking about this right, I 492 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:25,160 know God's made you the next king and not me. 493 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:30,000 Yep, David knew what he was promised. 494 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:34,600 So why would he fret? He knew that the promises of God 495 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:36,440 were real. He was willing to be patient 496 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:38,760 because he knew what God has promised. 497 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:39,880 And let me ask. You. 498 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:42,320 Does God follow through with His promises? 499 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,640 Listen, I would almost be able to tell you this evening, you're 500 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:49,600 allowed to be impatient if God's broken His promises to you. 501 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,560 But if He hasn't, then we've got to be patient. 502 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,760 Why? Because if God says it, He'll do 503 00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:58,520 it. You know who believed this? 504 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:06,280 David's son Solomon. About 40-50 years later, Solomon 505 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:08,960 would say this in First Kings chapter 8, verse 56. 506 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:11,920 Blessed be the Lord that hath given rest unto His people 507 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,640 Israel, according to all that he promised. 508 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:19,960 Listen to this there hath not failed one word of all his good 509 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:22,960 promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses. 510 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:26,000 His servant Solomon, at the dedication of the Temple, 511 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:29,200 surveys the history of Israel and he says this. 512 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:34,360 We haven't been faithful to God, but God has kept every single 513 00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:37,200 one of His promises to us. And it wasn't just that He kept 514 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:41,840 His promises to you in generality, He has kept every 515 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:46,080 word of His promise. Listen, do you ever worry if God 516 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,600 will keep your salvation? I don't know about you, but I 517 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:52,440 don't worry on a daily basis or I don't even worry in general 518 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:55,680 about the fact that boy, I know God wants to save it, but I hope 519 00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:57,560 He has enough power to save, to keep us all saved. 520 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:00,640 I hope He has enough power to resurrect us all when the day 521 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:02,920 comes. Boy, I hope. 522 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:04,880 I hope he hasn't overextended himself. 523 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,520 I've never thought about that, never concerned me one bit. 524 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:13,200 Why keeps promises? But if he keeps his promises 525 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,200 about our eternity, then they keep his promises that he's made 526 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,680 to us in this life as well. David's willing to be patient. 527 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:21,800 You know why He says I trust the promises of God. 528 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:24,880 He promised I'd be the king. I'll be the king. 529 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:27,480 So it wasn't just that he knew it was promised, but I also see 530 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:29,000 this. He knew God was in control. 531 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:33,360 He knew God was in control. You know, you can be patient 532 00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:34,600 when you know someone's in control. 533 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:37,200 You can be patient when you know someone's control. 534 00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:39,680 That's general. That's true just in general, but 535 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:44,360 it's even more so true with God. Listen, trusting in man is a 536 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:49,240 fool's errand, but trusting in God is wise. 537 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:52,360 Why? Because He is the one who has 538 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,040 the levers of power. Listen, he's not the man behind 539 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:58,240 the curtain. He's the eternal being that 540 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,360 invented the curtain and everything else that we see and 541 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:04,360 everything that we don't see. No, no, he's not just the one 542 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:06,600 trying to manipulate the levers of power. 543 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:11,000 No, no, he is in control even when it looks like everything is 544 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,440 not in control. Hebrews chapter one verse 3 545 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:15,680 basically says this. If he's not in control for one 546 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:19,160 moment, everything just in this universe falls apart. 547 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:23,480 He just create it and leave it to its own devices. 548 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,360 He's created it and he is intimately acquainted and 549 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:33,960 involved with the very basic and the very large dealings of this 550 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:37,200 universe. Listen, there's not an atom that 551 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:42,840 moves without his understanding, and they're not Is the largest 552 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:47,680 star which radiates heat and light of which he is not 553 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:50,160 involved. And he takes care of everything 554 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:52,280 in between. He's in control. 555 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:56,440 Knowing that God's in control ought to bring patience to the 556 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:59,440 life of the believer. Isaiah 46 verses 9 and 10. 557 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:00,960 Remember the former things of old. 558 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:05,160 For I am God, there is none else I am God, there is none. 559 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:08,920 Like me declaring the end from the beginning and from the 560 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:12,320 ancient times the things that are not yet done. 561 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:16,680 Saying My counsel shall stand, I will do all my pleasure. 562 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:21,080 Listen from time eternal to time eternal, from one end of the 563 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,200 timeline to the other end of the timeline, and beyond each end of 564 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:26,680 the timeline, because there is no end of the timeline when it 565 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:30,000 comes to God. His counsel has always stood. 566 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:34,720 He is in control. Nebuchadnezzar thought he was in 567 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:36,800 control. Remember the king? 568 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:42,200 And the more he tried to squeeze on to his Kingdom, the more 569 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:44,120 things just kind of kept slipping through his fingers, 570 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:46,600 didn't it? He thought he had Shadrach, 571 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,880 Meshach and Abednego, but there was a fourth man in the fire. 572 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:51,560 And he doesn't know how he got there. 573 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:53,880 And they came out of the fire, and they didn't even smell like 574 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:57,520 smoke. But then you get to chapter #4 575 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:01,760 and Nebuchadnezzar gets a little bit proud of himself again, 576 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:06,600 doesn't he? And God in his mercy tries to 577 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:08,720 warn him. Brings a vision. 578 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,320 Brings an interpreter of that vision, Daniel. 579 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:13,920 He says this. If you don't get this taken care 580 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,280 of, he says, you're going to have seven years of your life 581 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:21,440 that are going to be gone. And that's exactly what 582 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:22,680 happened. For seven years, he acted like 583 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:24,800 an animal. You know what's interesting? 584 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:28,360 Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon. 585 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,200 The. World power, anyone could have 586 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:35,360 just walked into the palace and taken over, but somehow, some 587 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:40,880 way, God had it as such that He retained control during all that 588 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:43,040 time. And at the end of this 589 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:46,080 experience, what does Nebuchadnezzar say in Daniel 590 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:48,920 chapter 4 verse 35? And all the inhabitants of the 591 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:54,640 earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his 592 00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:57,920 will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants. 593 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:02,120 Of the earth none can say his stay, stay his hand, or say unto 594 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:05,160 him, What doest thou? Nebuchadnezzar says. 595 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:08,920 I thought I was big time, and I realize there's only one that's 596 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:12,600 big, there's one that's truly great, and that's him. 597 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:17,040 And in a moment he turned him into the mind and into the 598 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:21,080 manner of an animal, but yet he still retained his throne. 599 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:25,880 Listen, God could do that. What can't God do? 600 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,280 God is in control. Should we be patient with a God 601 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,560 who's in control? Should we be patient with one? 602 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:35,920 Who? Knows what is going on and knows 603 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:37,400 the end. From the beginning, David 604 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,600 understood this. He knew God was in control. 605 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:43,320 But I also believe. This he knew the time was on his 606 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:46,040 side. We knew that time was on his 607 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:48,160 side. Did we just see that in chapter 608 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:50,600 3 verse one? What happened as time went on? 609 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:54,440 He grew stronger and Ishbosheth grew. 610 00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:58,560 Weaker, you know, time is on the side of the believer. 611 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:02,440 You realize that I know we struggle with time. 612 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:06,040 I struggle with time in the sense that I feel like in my 613 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:09,440 mind there's a ticking clock almost every second of the day. 614 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:13,000 I feel the weight and pressure of time. 615 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:14,440 I do. I don't know other people. 616 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:18,840 Some people think time is more of a, you know, a construct than 617 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:20,440 necessarily is a very real thing. 618 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:22,040 It's kind of just an imaginary thing. 619 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:27,480 But I feel time in a very acute way and it's good sometimes. 620 00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:29,320 And. It's also very bad at other 621 00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:33,960 times because as time goes on, you start to feel like things 622 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:38,600 are slipping out of your grasp. And as days turn to weeks and 623 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:40,920 weeks turn to months, and sometimes months even turn to 624 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:43,760 years, you start to feel like what's going on here? 625 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:47,640 What's going on in my situation? But here, what do we see? 626 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:52,280 David knew time was on his side. You know what God said, He just 627 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:55,760 needed to wait. Listen to God, a day is like 628 00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:58,240 1000 years and 1000 years is like a day meaning this. 629 00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:01,320 What does it mean to God? His purposes will take care of 630 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:03,120 themselves. If he says it, he'll do it. 631 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,080 And David says, listen, maybe we could put it this way. 632 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,520 David said this. God told me what he was going to 633 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:10,360 do. He didn't tell me when he was 634 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:13,040 going to do it, so I'm just going to trust him. 635 00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:15,400 There's a lot of things God has told us in our life, and he 636 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:18,560 hasn't told us when he's going to do it, but he's told us that 637 00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:21,560 he'll do it. Listen, he's not working on your 638 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:24,880 calendar. He's not working on my calendar. 639 00:34:25,679 --> 00:34:29,239 He works off of his calendar and he doesn't always make us Privy 640 00:34:29,639 --> 00:34:32,679 to what's on his calendar. In fact, I've found more often 641 00:34:32,679 --> 00:34:36,080 than not, I don't know. I just had to trust that he 642 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,840 doesn't lose track of time. God's never been up in heaven, 643 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:42,880 said Whoa. And it went by so fast. 644 00:34:44,159 --> 00:34:49,080 Now he's acutely aware of every second of every minute of every 645 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:51,080 day. You remember Elijah was kind of 646 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:52,840 making fun of the prophets of Bay a little bit. 647 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:54,920 He says, hey, where's your guy? Is he sleeping? 648 00:34:55,639 --> 00:34:58,120 Is he on vacation? Is he on a trip? 649 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:01,000 He's missing your prayers. Listen. 650 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:03,480 God's never missed one of our prayers. 651 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,200 He's never missed any event that took place on this earth. 652 00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:08,720 Listen. God is acquainted with 653 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:11,800 everything that takes place, and none of it catches him by 654 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:13,800 surprise. David, new time was on his side. 655 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:15,880 Listen. The time of our trials. 656 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:17,920 Listen. You're going through a trial. 657 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,840 Listen, time's on your side. God will bring deliverance. 658 00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:23,680 Hey, Pastor, I don't see how I'm going to get Deliverance out of 659 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:26,040 this trial. Well, he may not have told you 660 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:30,920 how, but He'll bring it to you. Hey, Pastor, this one's too big, 661 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,320 this one's too deep. You know, to be absent with the 662 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:36,200 body is present with the Lord, that for some believers, the 663 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:38,840 deliverance is to be able to be with the Lord. 664 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:43,160 You say, well, that's kind of, I don't like the sound of that, 665 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:45,400 Paul. Like the sound of that. 666 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:48,080 Paul knew he wasn't going to get deliverance from the thorn in 667 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:51,080 the flesh, but even then God's grace was going to be sufficient 668 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:53,200 for him. But he knew that one day he'd 669 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:56,200 returned back to that 3rd heaven, and he knew that time 670 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:58,560 was on his side. And in the meantime, what was he 671 00:35:58,560 --> 00:35:59,840 going to do? He was going to do as much As 672 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:03,000 for the Lord as he possibly could because he knew that his 673 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:06,880 time was short, but that someday his deliverance would be full. 674 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:10,840 Time was on his side. This is the time of our life. 675 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:14,240 Eternity is coming. What is our life? 676 00:36:14,240 --> 00:36:16,360 It's not a vapor. It's here one minute and it's 677 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:19,360 gone the next time in world history. 678 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:23,240 Well, may I remind you the time in world history, as time ends, 679 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:27,760 God wins. When the countdown is made and 680 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:32,800 the buzzer sounds at the end of this world as we see it, God 681 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:34,520 wins. He didn't just win, He wins big. 682 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:39,640 So time's on our side. It's easy to be patient when 683 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:43,680 time is on your side, but we have to look at it through the 684 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:47,600 perspective of what God's eyes and not our own. 685 00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:54,720 So that's how David showed. Patients, I believe through this 686 00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:58,320 time, but I want to ask you not just how David showed patients, 687 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:02,320 but why could he do it? And this is where I want us to 688 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:06,520 focus as we conclude tonight. Why could he show that type of 689 00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:08,240 patients? OK, That's how his patients 690 00:37:08,240 --> 00:37:12,480 manifested itself, right? We see that he knew what he was 691 00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:14,400 promised. He knew God was in control. 692 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:17,680 He knew time was on his side, but how could he look at it like 693 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:19,720 that? How could he get to a place 694 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:21,880 where he could look at his life and he could look at his 695 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:25,160 situation and he could look at another set back, not as a set 696 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:29,160 back, but just as another event in the life that God had put him 697 00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:31,920 in and that God was in control. How could he get there? 698 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:34,800 And believe it or not, I believe the answer is found in a 699 00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:37,680 different passage of Scripture. Would you turn, please to Psalm 700 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:40,040 chapter 62? You'll never guess who wrote 701 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:43,640 this Psalm. Now, I cannot tell you that 702 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:45,320 David wrote this Psalm right now. 703 00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:48,880 I can't say that. But I have to wonder if this 704 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:53,400 song was written during this time or if David wrote this 705 00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:56,800 Psalm looking back upon this time in his life. 706 00:37:56,800 --> 00:37:59,240 I don't know. Psalm chapter 62. 707 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:14,320 You're going to see more of this type of posture from David right 708 00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:18,360 out of the chute, right in verse #1 truly, my soul waiteth upon 709 00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:21,640 God. From Him cometh my salvation. 710 00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:26,320 He only is my rock and my salvation. 711 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:30,920 By the way, God wasn't just one of His rocks and His salvation 712 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:35,960 ONLY. You find the word only in verse 713 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:40,080 2, verse 5, verse 6, the word all in verse 8. 714 00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:42,640 Listen, he knew it was God alone. 715 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:45,800 He only is my rock and my salvation. 716 00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:48,720 He is my defense. I shall not be greatly moved. 717 00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:51,160 How long will you imagine mischief against a man? 718 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:55,040 He shall be slain, all of you. As a bowing wall shall you be, 719 00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:58,720 and as a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him 720 00:38:58,720 --> 00:39:01,400 down from His Excellency. They delight in lies. 721 00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:04,000 They blessed with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. 722 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:07,680 Selah. My soul wait thou upon only upon 723 00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:12,080 God, for my expectation is from Him. 724 00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:15,360 Come back to that in a moment. He only is my rock of my 725 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:16,960 salvation. He is my defense. 726 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:20,320 I shall not be moved, and God is my salvation of my glory, the 727 00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:23,800 rock of my strength. My refuge is in God. 728 00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:27,040 Trust in Him at all times. He people, pour out your heart 729 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:29,360 before Him. God is a refuge. 730 00:39:29,360 --> 00:39:35,520 For us, Selah, God is a rock. God is a refuge, God is 731 00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:38,640 salvation. He will not be moved. 732 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:41,680 We see this over and over and over again. 733 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:46,040 But then he says this, my expectation is from God. 734 00:39:46,320 --> 00:39:48,760 And listen, if you don't get anything else, get this tonight. 735 00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:53,880 Patience can only be achieved in our life when our expectation 736 00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:59,080 comes from God and God alone. Patience can only be achieved in 737 00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:02,800 our life when our expectation comes from God. 738 00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:06,160 And God alone, he says, my expectation is from God. 739 00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:11,280 Listen, when life doesn't go the way you expect it to go, it's 740 00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:13,320 OK, because my expectation comes from God. 741 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:15,840 It doesn't come from my circumstances. 742 00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:17,880 It doesn't come from mankind. It doesn't come from the 743 00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:20,480 promises that were made to me. It doesn't come from any of 744 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:23,080 these other entities. It only comes from one place and 745 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:27,560 one place alone. My expectation comes from God. 746 00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:29,960 When your expectation comes from God, you could have patience. 747 00:40:30,960 --> 00:40:33,400 You can you can remember what God has promised. 748 00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:36,640 When your expectation is from God, you can remember that God 749 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:38,760 is in control. When your expectation is from 750 00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:42,200 God, you can remind yourself that time is on your side when 751 00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:48,600 your expectation comes from God. And I want to end with this, 752 00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:51,520 this evening. I want to, I want to consider 753 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:54,360 this for just a moment. And this is where the Bible, 754 00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:58,160 every word matters and the Bible, every letter matters. 755 00:40:58,520 --> 00:41:03,280 It's not just the words, it's the letters because I don't know 756 00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:06,960 about you, but I was even going through this as I was studying 757 00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:09,400 this week. I, I got to this chapter and I'm 758 00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:11,440 trying to put things together. And that's, you know, when 759 00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:13,960 you're preparing messages, you're, you're putting different 760 00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:16,000 passages together, different thoughts together and you're 761 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:17,760 trying. And in my mind, I was 762 00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:20,080 remembering this verse and it, I knew it had something to do with 763 00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:22,200 our expectations coming from God. 764 00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:25,800 And so I found the verse and I looked it up and I was going 765 00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:27,640 through a little bit and I realized that it doesn't say 766 00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:29,480 that my expectations come from God. 767 00:41:31,720 --> 00:41:33,320 No, that there's no letter S there is there? 768 00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:37,080 Look at it again. OK, I may be crazy, but I'm not 769 00:41:37,080 --> 00:41:39,000 crazy about this. OK, it says this. 770 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:41,960 It says verse 5 my soul wait thou only upon God, for my 771 00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:49,040 expectation is from him. If we were to say our 772 00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:50,800 expectations come. From God, it would almost be 773 00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:52,560 like this. Listen, you know, whatever 774 00:41:52,560 --> 00:41:56,600 happens in my life, you know, if I go to this church or if these 775 00:41:56,600 --> 00:41:59,400 things happen to me with my family or whatever happens in 776 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:02,560 the workplace, listen, as long as I keep my expectations 777 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:05,240 focused upon God and all these things, and that's good enough. 778 00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:07,720 And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. 779 00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:09,360 That's just not what it's saying. 780 00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:12,960 It's saying my expectation comes from God. 781 00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:16,800 And I looked up the. Hebrew word for expectations, 782 00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:20,360 the word tickva. Tickva and it literally means 783 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:24,160 this. My hope and my anticipation 784 00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:27,760 comes from God. And this is where word studies 785 00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:29,280 are amazing. I'll be honest with you. 786 00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:32,800 That word tickvaw is not used many times in the Old Testament, 787 00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:37,640 but it also sometimes is used with this as a cord or a 788 00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:39,680 binding. You know, one of the places 789 00:42:39,680 --> 00:42:43,440 where this word tickvaw is used in the Old Testament is in Judge 790 00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:50,440 Joshua chapter #2 when Rahab placed a tickvaw, A scarlet 791 00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:56,240 tickvaw, outside of her, a little home on the wall in 792 00:42:56,240 --> 00:42:58,920 Jericho. And what was that? 793 00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:03,920 Well, it was a sign that she and her family were to be saved. 794 00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:09,440 But, but can I put it this way? It was her saying my expectation 795 00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:15,080 and my hope is in God and God alone. 796 00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:22,520 That rope is a is a binding. That it's taut. 797 00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:25,240 That it's tight. That that, that, that it's firm. 798 00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:27,840 It won't tatter. It won't break, it won't tear. 799 00:43:28,240 --> 00:43:30,880 That it's something that you can hold on to. 800 00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:37,240 He says this, my expectation, my tick ball comes from God alone. 801 00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:40,680 That's a lot better than just saying, well, you know, whatever 802 00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:43,440 happens in my life, I expect whatever God puts in my life and 803 00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:45,240 I'm OK with that. And again, not that that's bad, 804 00:43:45,240 --> 00:43:46,320 that's just not what it's saying. 805 00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:49,080 It's given us something a whole lot more powerful than that. 806 00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:54,240 Now, I've never been bobbing up and down in the sea before, 807 00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:57,360 thank the Lord. I've never been thrown overboard 808 00:43:57,560 --> 00:44:01,560 and I've never been overboard of a vessel before in the water. 809 00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:05,800 But I do know this without having had that situation happen 810 00:44:05,800 --> 00:44:09,120 to me before. I do know this, that if I was 811 00:44:09,120 --> 00:44:12,880 overboard and someone threw a life raft to me through a life 812 00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:18,520 preserver to me, and it was attached to a rope, listen, if I 813 00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:21,400 didn't grab that rope, probably die. 814 00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:24,960 You know, the water's choppy. You're going up and down and up 815 00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:26,640 and down. Listen, there's a reason they 816 00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:30,440 called a life preserver. You grab it so you can live. 817 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:38,040 So if I was to decline it, if I was to say I don't need it, I 818 00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:39,760 probably perish there in the water. 819 00:44:41,120 --> 00:44:45,160 But if I was to grab it and I was to hold on to it, you know, 820 00:44:45,160 --> 00:44:48,080 we could argue the fact that perhaps I could stay in that 821 00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:52,320 water for quite a long time. In fact, maybe they wouldn't be 822 00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:55,280 able to pull me up right away because the water would be so 823 00:44:55,280 --> 00:44:58,400 boisterous and and the waves would be so high that it would 824 00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:01,560 be difficult to draw me up. But as long as I was holding on 825 00:45:01,560 --> 00:45:06,720 that rope, even if I had to wait for a couple hours, I still 826 00:45:06,720 --> 00:45:08,160 live. Why? 827 00:45:08,680 --> 00:45:14,160 Because you hold on to the tick ball in your life tonight. 828 00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:18,560 There's some things going on. You don't know why they're going 829 00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:21,960 the way they're going. You know why it's taking so long 830 00:45:21,960 --> 00:45:24,520 for God to do what you thought he was going to do a long time 831 00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:28,280 before. You don't understand why the 832 00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:31,960 family is the way it is. You don't understand why the 833 00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:34,160 finances are the way they are. You don't understand where the 834 00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:37,800 situation that should have just remedied itself a long time ago 835 00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:41,240 still is going and going and going, and it's like a gaping 836 00:45:41,240 --> 00:45:43,640 wound that that won't ever heal itself. 837 00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:45,680 You don't understand why it's going on. 838 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:49,720 Where is God? Why isn't he doing what he's 839 00:45:49,720 --> 00:45:54,400 supposed to be doing? I just encourage you, hold on to 840 00:45:54,400 --> 00:46:00,240 the Tigva. Hold on to hope that God is who 841 00:46:00,240 --> 00:46:04,520 he said he is. Hold on to hope that God plays 842 00:46:04,520 --> 00:46:07,080 the long game and not the short game. 843 00:46:08,040 --> 00:46:09,640 Now I'll tell you this if. You hold on to that. 844 00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:11,720 You can last a lot longer than you think. 845 00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:18,080 As soon as you let go, drift. As soon as you let go, as the 846 00:46:18,080 --> 00:46:22,360 waves overcome you, as soon as you let go, you lose hope. 847 00:46:23,440 --> 00:46:28,080 But if you hold on to that hope, and by the way, that rope which 848 00:46:28,080 --> 00:46:34,880 is on the other side, He is, you can hold on a lot longer than 849 00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:38,800 you ever thought was possible. And maybe you don't have answers 850 00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:40,720 medically, but you can hold on. Why? 851 00:46:41,360 --> 00:46:44,840 Because God will see you through and maybe the family, it doesn't 852 00:46:44,840 --> 00:46:46,160 seem like it's ever going to remedy itself. 853 00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:47,640 It doesn't seem like they're ever going to come back to 854 00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:49,960 Christ. But listen, God will see you 855 00:46:49,960 --> 00:46:52,360 through. And you don't understand how on 856 00:46:52,360 --> 00:46:55,240 earth your finances are supposed to remedy themselves. 857 00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:56,800 And then you're supposed to tie it on top of that. 858 00:46:56,800 --> 00:46:58,800 And that's supposed to make things better when it seems like 859 00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:01,360 it's going to make things worthless, Hold on to the 860 00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:06,120 promises of God. He's not just your expectations. 861 00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:09,360 He's better than that. He's your expectation. 862 00:47:09,960 --> 00:47:12,280 Hold on to Him and you will find patience. 863 00:47:13,080 --> 00:47:17,160 That seems to. Pass all understanding why? 864 00:47:17,160 --> 00:47:19,680 Because when he's holding on to the other side of the rope and 865 00:47:19,680 --> 00:47:22,760 you trust in him, just like Rahab was saved. 866 00:47:23,520 --> 00:47:26,240 And by the way, it seems to me that maybe David was able to 867 00:47:26,240 --> 00:47:29,600 write that with Rahab being in his lineage. 868 00:47:30,960 --> 00:47:32,600 Maybe a good place for us to stop this evening. 869 00:47:33,200 --> 00:47:34,960 I'd say he's a good God to trust, isn't he? 870 00:47:36,480 --> 00:47:39,160 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 871 00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:42,040 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 872 00:47:42,040 --> 00:47:45,520 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 873 00:47:45,520 --> 00:47:50,120 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 874 00:47:50,400 --> 00:47:54,920 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 875 00:47:54,920 --> 00:47:57,760 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 876 00:47:57,760 --> 00:47:58,960 grow in His Word.